Benefits to Nigerians must be built into oil pricing, Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde said on Monday as he opened the Makinde/Daura presidential campaign office in Abuja and urged full transparency across the petroleum value chain.
He warned that domestic refining price and downstream inefficiencies must not strip ordinary people of the gains from Nigerian crude.
“If a community grows food, the people of that community should not have to buy that food as though it travelled halfway around the world before reaching them. So, why should crude oil supplied to Nigerian refineries be priced as though Nigeria does not produce crude oil?” Makinde said, arguing that the price at which crude is supplied for domestic refining should guarantee direct benefit to citizens.
He added, “That benefit should be built into the system from the beginning, through the price at which crude oil is supplied for domestic refining—not through an opaque intervention at the petrol pump after all the costs, inefficiencies and distortions have been added.”
Makinde set the statement within his Reset Nigeria programme and framed the campaign office as a place for citizens to demand accountability across production, allocation, refining, transportation, distribution, taxes and retail margins.
“Government must show its workings. Nigerians must be able to see how decisions are made and how national resources are managed,” he said, calling for clarity along the petroleum value chain that will let Nigerians verify where value is created and captured.
How domestic refining price affects citizens
He invited citizens from every walk of life to join what he described as a national conversation.
“Reset Nigeria cannot be a conversation among politicians alone. It must become a conversation in our homes, markets, schools, offices, farms, factories and communities,” Makinde said, pressing for input from traders hit by rising transport costs, farmers who cannot afford to move produce, business owners squeezed by fuel price swings and young Nigerians who feel shut out of opportunity.
“This office belongs to that conversation. Its doors are open to Nigerians who believe that our country can work better than it does today. So, I invite you: join the Reset Nigeria conversation.”
The event drew high-profile endorsements that underlined APM’s pitch of competence and practical solutions. Senator Bala Mohammed, National Leader of the Allied People’s Movement and Governor of Bauchi State, praised Makinde’s record and urged opponents not to underestimate the campaign.
“Whoever disregards us is at his own peril. We are here to Reset Nigeria, and we are bringing in one of the best human capital this country has produced — that is Makinde,” Bala Mohammed said.
Petroleum value chain transparency and trust
Mohammed described Makinde as “a mobiliser, a manager of resources, an engineer par excellence… Somebody who used little resources and did so much.” He highlighted that the Abuja campaign office was wholly provided by Makinde as a sign of the team’s seriousness and readiness for national office.
The APM National Chairman, Dr Yusuf Dantalle, echoed that message, saying the Reset Nigeria project aims to rescue a nation that has drifted and to prioritise competence over ethnicity or religion.
Dantalle told the crowd that the headquarters will be the “engine room” for the 2027 campaign and that the Makinde/Daura ticket brings hope in governance, security and economic prosperity.
“Rest assured that Makinde will be President to all Nigerians, as he has ably demonstrated as Governor of Oyo State,” he said, adding praise for the vice-presidential candidate: “With a competent vice-presidential candidate, Alhaji Lawal Daura, who once headed a critical security service in the country, insecurity will be tackled head-on.”
The tone of the gathering also stressed coalition-building. Mr Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, offered a goodwill message and said Makinde is qualified to lead the country.
He noted that attendance from varied political camps shows parties need not be enemies and implied cooperation could birth a new Nigeria. Dr Aliyu Babangida, Secretary of the PDP Board of Trustees and former Niger State governor, urged opposition parties to collaborate and target a southern candidate after the North’s recent tenure.
The Abuja ceremony featured senior party figures and former governors, national and state legislators, members of APM’s Board of Trustees and National Working Committee, plus party supporters.
The event underscored a campaign theme grounded in economics and governance: ensure that national resources, especially oil, produce measurable benefits to Nigerians rather than feeding opaque systems that extract value before citizens see any gain.
